A Dance With Death
by KatDT
Summary: Gabriel is having trouble with Death Blossom, so Amelie decides to help him out.


Spring. Warm, lively, colourful and most importantly, clear. A perfect day for sniping, Ana thought to herself as she and Amelie waltzed their way towards the range at Watchpoint: Paris. It's no surprise that the Overwatch team has Watchpoints all over the world, but Paris was the favourite. There was just something to be said for the beauty of the base, which most of the team adored. Despite the outside of the base being laced with vines, the inside was incredible. The quality of all facilities in this Watchpoint were second only to the Swiss headquarters. Needless to say Paris was a welcome base, especially for Amelie.

Amelie was not a normal member of Overwatch either. She had a commitment to the Paris Opera Ballet Company, which held weekly rehearsals and quarterly recitals. She could never leave Paris unless she was touring with her troupe. So she eagerly anticipated Overwatch's arrival in Paris on every rare occasion. She cherished the moments she would have with Gerard, only seeing him once every few months, and she adored training with Ana.

The sniping range was by far the most beautiful part of the base. It was outdoors, fenced and laced with vines, and surrounded with trees and flowers in full bloom. It was like sniping into a fairy tale. The targets were in 10, 20, 50 and 100 meter ranges, and Amelie had moved her way up to the 50 meter mark. Ana watched as Amelie scoped in on the target's head. She was laying down with the rifle in front of her, her long black hair resting neatly past her shoulder. Ana noticed Amelie's tight, stiff grip on the rifle in an attempt to keep it steady. She didn't need to keep it that tight, and it was causing her to hesitate more. That was Amelie's biggest problem, she always over-thought her shots, which caused her to hesitate and eventually miss, the bullet hitting slightly above the head. Ana couldn't necessarily blame her, though. Amelie's accuracy was actually incredible, but her heart rate was too high. She would hesitate to take the shot when she had it, or she would panic and take the shot before she was ready. If she knew how to keep her composure, she would be an incredible sniper.

"Breathe, Amelie. You had the shot." Ana encouraged. Amelie had a habit of holding her breath before pulling the trigger.

Amelie sighed, shaking her head. She scoped back in, focusing on her breathing this time. She knew that if he lowered her heartrate, she could concentrate on the shot and hit it without overthinking it.

Bullseye. The shot landed on the target, right between the eyes.

"See, there you go," Ana smiled at the young sniper. "Just remember to keep breathing, and you'll be a sniper in no time."

Amelie was ecstatic. She always wanted to learn how to use a sniper rifle, even if she would never need it in real life. And she was extremely grateful to Ana for offering to teach her. However just as she was about to scope in again, she heard a loud roar coming from the entrance to the range.

"Ah, Ana! Amelie! Come with me! You must see this!" Reinhardt roared as he stomped into the range.

Amelie gently laid down the rifle and turned to the German giant. "What is it now, Reinhardt?" Amelie asked, smiling. Something about Reinhardt's presence always made people smile. She had never seen the man unhappy. To be fair though, she had also never seen him in battle.

"It's Gabriel," he teased quietly, the corners of his mouth nearly touching his eyes. "He's practicing a new move." Reinhardt could barely keep himself from laughing at that statement.

"Oh no," Ana chuckled, "I think I've seen this one before. Is that the one where he-"

Reinhardt put his enormous hand over Ana's mouth. "Shhhh. Amelie has yet to see it!" His excited eyes darting over to the Frenchwoman. "Come, my dear. This is truly a glorious sight!"

Ana and Amelie scurried behind Reinhardt to the Blackwatch training room. It was…intense, to say the least. The sniping range was outdoors and surrounded with trees and beautiful flowers in permanent full bloom. The Blackwatch room on the other hand was dark. It was a lowered platform with small, bulky robots floating around in unpredictable patterns. And in the middle of these robots stood Gabriel Reyes, oblivious to the fact that most of the Overwatch team was now watching him fail his Death Blossom for the 50th time. Reinhardt led the two snipers to a glass room, giving them full view of Reyes. Inside this room stood McCree, Angela and Lena, none of whom could contain their laughter at the stumbling Commander.

The laughter around Amelie muffled as she focused on Reyes. Amelie gathered that he was trying to spin around while firing his shotguns. Not only was he missing every shot, but he was becoming increasingly dizzy with each attempt. It used to happen to her when she was first learning her triple pirouettes in ballet class. It was without a doubt an amusing sight, but if Amelie could help the commander, she would. When the glass room eventually emptied, she made her way down to the dizzy Commander.

"Commander Reyes, Mrs Lacroix is entering the training room. I am disabling the bots and would advise you to disengage your weapons." Athena boomed. Reyes nodded, throwing his shotguns down and sitting, trying to stop his head from spinning.

"Ah, hello Commander." Amelie sweetly announced, waltzing her way down the stairs to the platform.

"Call me Gabe, Mrs Lacroix." His gruff voice was followed with a smile. Amelie was in that weird middle ground between being an actual member of Overwatch and a guest in the facility, so he didn't treat her like he treated the other soldiers. She was Gerard's delicate wife, here because she's fascinated with Overwatch, not because she wanted to kill people.

"Call me Amelie, Gabe." Amelie smirked back. Gabe wasn't as intimidating as people say. Well, he was sitting down with his head in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, so he didn't look too intimidating either.

Gabriel smiled, finally standing. "How can I help you?"

"I was watching you train for a second there. You seemed a little…clunky." She hesitated. She doesn't really talk to the Commander much, so she didn't know if she was offending him.

"Clunky?" He pursued, a brow raised. This caused Amelie to stutter. He may not be intimidating, but he was technically a superior to Amelie. She still didn't know if he was offended, so she decided to be extremely careful of her next words.

"I…I mean, you seemed to get a little dizzy, a-and I think I know why."

This piqued the commander's interest. He had no idea why he was losing his balance. He wanted to stop slightly with each 90 degree turn, but also wanted Death Blossom to be a fluent motion. He just couldn't seem to get it though.

"Y-you see…" Amelie started, inching her way towards him. "The same thing used to happen to me. We have to do triple, quadruple, sometimes quintuple pirouettes, and I could never make it past double without losing my balance." By now she had walked past the commander, who was still curious.

"Pir-ou-what?"

"Pirouettes" she demonstrated. Turning quickly with one leg bent up and outwards, her right foot pointing just under her left knee. She did a triple pirouette, landed and glanced over at the commander. "The trick is to find a spot on the wall when you start spinning. As you turn, whip your head to that spot. You will rarely get dizzy."

Gabriel was completely dumbfounded. He had seen Amelie's recitals before, but never figured out how to turn with such ease. It was a whole new level of grace, and Gabriel was not the graceful type.

"How-how do you move like THAT?"

"I'm in the Ballet," Amelie smirked, "It's my job to move like that."

Amelie sat down next to Gabriel's shotguns and made sure the bots were still disabled. "You need to practice your turning motion before you consider killing your enemies. You will never be able to do this if you keep losing your balance. Keep trying."

Gabriel was slightly embarrassed, but did as he was told. He held his arms out the same way he would if he was holding the shotguns, and spun around, taking Amelie's advice into account. To his surprise, he wasn't losing his balance. Maybe this move could finally work, he thought to himself. Amelie smiled, "good, keep practicing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a husband to find." She stood up and began walking towards the staircase. "Do you know where he is?"

Gabriel shrugged. "No idea. Check the meeting room."

Amelie began walking up the stairs, nodding at his comment.

"Thanks Amelie. I appreciate the help."

"Not a problem, Gabe. Actually, one more thing." She turned to look at him, and he stared at her as her eyes darted to his shotguns. "Those things are expensive, are they not? Do not throw them around with such apathy."

Gabe chuckled. "But it looks cool, right?"

Amelie rolled her eyes at him before turning away and walking up the stairs. "Goodbye Gabriel!"

Gabe smirked. He definitely looked cool when he threw his shotguns. He knew it.


End file.
